Published: December 04, 2005 12:44 am

Titans receive message, play with heart

Taylor girls fight back to top Western 53-48.

RUSSIAVILLE — Taylor girls basketball coach Dennis Bentzler sent his players a message Friday when he cut practice short and sent them off the court. The Titans answered Saturday with one of their better efforts of the season.

Class 2A No. 10-ranked Taylor rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Western 53-48 in a Mid-Indiana Conference contest in the Panthers’ south gymnasium.

Western led 39-29 in the final minute of the third quarter and 44-36 with 5:20 remaining, but Taylor finished the game with a 17-4 run to take the win.

“I thought our kids showed a lot of heart,” Bentzler said. “We fell behind by 10 in the third quarter, but I thought our kids battled so hard from that point. They weren’t going to lose. I had not seen that kind of heart all season and that is something that makes such a big difference for our team.”

Western coach Kyle Barrentine, meanwhile, felt frustrated after watching the Panthers let the game slip away.

“We were not here today,” he lamented. “I have to figure out a way to get them ready because I didn’t get them ready today and we have Kokomo coming up Tuesday.”

Taylor improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the MIC while Western dropped to 5-1 and 2-1. Bentzler knows the Titans took a big step toward the league championship with the win.

“No question. But, Northwestern and Maconaquah are going to be major factors,” he said. “We were talking at breakfast about how there could be two, three or four teams with one loss at the end. There are four teams that are definitely in the hunt. It’s going to be a dogfight.”

The Titans worked in front in the first half Saturday as they led 11-10 after the opening quarter and 24-16 with 1:18 remaining in the second quarter. But, the Panthers closed with a 7-0 run to draw within 24-23 going into halftime. Annina Gruber sparked the Panthers’ run with five points.

The Panthers followed with an 8-0 run to start the third quarter to go ahead 31-24. Gruber again led the way as she had a three-point play and an assist. Liz Hoppes also had a three-point play during the stretch.

The Panthers went on for a 39-29 lead late in the quarter, but Brittni Oliver gave the Titans a spark when she connected on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Still, the Panthers seemed in control when Heather Power hit a jumper for a 44-36 lead with 5:20 remaining.

But, the Titans had other ideas as they went on the attack.

Morgan McWhorter started the comeback with a steal and layup, Jamie Dunlap followed with a 3-pointer and Dunlap added a steal that McWhorter turned into a pair of free throws — and just like that, the Titans trailed by just one, 44-43, at 4:25.

Hannah Thieke briefly stopped the Panthers’ bleeding when she split a pair of free throws at 4:06. But, the Panthers failed to increase their lead when they had the chance and McWhorter made them pay when she grabbed an offensive rebound, scored the putback and tacked on a free throw for a 46-45 Titan lead at 2:26. Brittni Oliver added a layup for a 48-45 lead at 2:04 and from there, the Titans sealed the win with free throws. Dunlap went 4 of 4 from the line in the final 34 seconds to help put the game away.

“I don’t have any answers,” Barrentine said when asked about the Panthers’ struggles in the fourth quarter, which included 2 of 14 shooting from the field and five turnovers. “Just give all the credit to Taylor. They could have folded when we built that lead and they didn’t, which is a credit to them. We just have to get better.”

Brittni Oliver led the Titans with 18 points and Dunlap and McWhorter each added 15 points.

“Jamie Dunlap, Morgan McWhorter and Brittni Oliver gave us some great minutes, and I thought Brianne Christophel played well. She got some fouls early in the game because of poor defense on our part on the penetration. But, when the game was on the line, she went to play,” Bentzler said. “I thought Terri Oliver also stepped it up late in the game. She struggled early in the game, but I think she played much better once she got into the flow of the game.”

Gruber led Western with 16 points and six rebounds. Hoppes offered a nice game off the bench and finished with eight points and six boards.